Here’s a thought…
“Old age is no joke, but it can feel like one.”
TAD TOMPKINS
Coates Cabinet: Meeting essential hygiene needs on Orcas Island
||| FROM MEGAN METCALF for ORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER ||| Basic hygiene products are fundamental to health and dignity, yet many struggle to afford essential items like soap, shampoo, deodorant, and laundry soap. The Orcas Community Resource Center addresses this need through our Coates Cabinet hygiene bank, ensuring community members
Council sets public hearing for cultural access sales tax at Dec. 10 meeting
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| During the December 10, 2024 Council meeting, the San Juan County Council will hold a public hearing on passing a new 1/10th of 1% sales tax to create a Cultural Access program. During this meeting, the Council will consider, deliberate, and make a final
Public Works mobilizes response to repair MacKaye Harbor Rd on Lopez
The repair is limited in scope to areas of coastal erosion and is designed to ensure the safety of the traveling public. The road will remain open to traffic during work. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Public Works Department will be preforming limited repairs along
Islander Thurmond Russell receives music award
||| FROM MICHELLE RUSSELL ||| Thurmond Russell, 16 years old of Orcas Island, received one of two Honorable Mentions in the Senior Division of the Washington State Music Teachers Association 2024-2025 composition competition. His composition for solo piano, Sarabande, is styled after the Baroque-era court dance of the same name but
Needlework Circle at Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Join our weekly gathering for knitters, crocheters, embroiderers, and all needleworkers at Orcas Senior Center, every Friday at 2 pm. Come hang out—no project required! Whether you haven’t knitted in years, want to learn to crochet, or just want to relax
Discover the magic of Montessori at Orcas Montessori Silent Journey
||| FROM MAGGIE VINSON for ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL ||| Orcas Montessori School invites the community to experience the transformative power of Montessori education through our upcoming Silent Journey event. This immersive and interactive experience offers parents, caregivers, and community members a unique opportunity to walk in the shoes of a
Fall Prevention Tai Ji Quan
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Join Karol Wilson, DPT, for a three month fall prevention Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance® class at Orcas Senior Center. Karol, a Doctor of Physical Therapy with 30 years of experience, is excited to introduce this evidence-based program, developed
Intro to oil spill science course
||| FROM WILLIAM SYMES for ISLANDS OIL SPILL ASSOCIATION ||| IOSA presents: Intro to Spill Science, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM, January 23, 2025 at Lopez Community Center. Come learn about marine oil spills and the science behind it all with marine biologist Gary Shigenaka, a 35-year+ NOAA veteran and
Andrea Cohen work at Library
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY ||| Orcas Island Library’s ‘Art in the Library’ exhibit for the month of December features the work of Andrea Cohen. Entitled Retrospect, the show looks back at Andrea’s art from the near and distant past, and includes work in assemblage, painting, lithography and etching. In Andrea’s
Orcas have a killer technique to hunt biggest fish in the ocean
||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT ||| When they're wearing salmon hats and terrorizing yachts, it's easy, perhaps, to forget that orcas are the most fearsome large predator lurking beneath the waves. Here comes a sobering reminder. A pod of orcas (Orcinus orca) that patrol the Gulf of California have devised collaborative hunting techniques to take down
Community invited to a festive Holiday Tea
||| FROM FRIENDS OF ORCAS LIBRARY ||| The Friends of the Orcas Library (FOIL) is thrilled to invite the entire community to its annual Holiday Tea, a delightful celebration of gratitude, joy, and the spirit of the season. Mark your calendars for Saturday, December 7, from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Orcas Island
Holiday Décor Galore at Orcas Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Orcas Senior Center is brimming with holiday cheer this December, and you’re invited to explore an array of festive decorations, gifts, and unique treasures for every holiday enthusiast. Our holiday decor offerings are available free or by donation, helping you add
‘We’ve become an amusement park’: the Alaskan town torn apart by cruise ship tourism
Juneau’s residents are divided over whether to embrace the economic benefits of millions of visitors, or reclaim their town from an industry that has reshaped it ||| FROM THE GUARDIAN ||| “The noise never stops,” says Karla Hart, her voice competing with the hum of approaching helicopters. “I can feel
Politics and family feel more fraught this Thanksgiving. Data shows they are
This year's election split voters down the middle. Now, as the nation sets the table for the winter holidays, it's doing the same thing to families. ||| FROM USA TODAY ||| Thanks to his years as a political commentator and program host on Fox News, Jesse Watters is one of President-elect Donald
SJC WSU Extension welcomes Clinton Gauthier as 4-H program coordinator
||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for WSU EXTENSION ||| San Juan County WSU Extension is pleased to announce that Clinton Gauthier starts as new San Juan County Extension 4-H Coordinator on December 2nd. Clinton brings skills and knowledge in the 4-H program as well as problem solving, communication, administration, and organization
Midnight Mutterings | A book
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| Recently, I read Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital, by Eric Manheimer, MD. I don’t remember how I came to know about the book, whether I read about it on the web or just ran into it at the Orcas Library.
